Oct. 4, 2005
Transcript Head Football Coach Paul Johnson's Comments Following Practice On Monday, October 3
Q. What are your thoughts on this game?
A. It's the biggest game of the year. It's the next game.
Q. Can you talk about the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy? Will you talk to your team about retaining it? It's obviously a source of pride.
A. It probably might come up once or twice this week. There's no secret that it's one of the goals of our team and it's one of the goals for their team. I think for all three-service academies that trophy is one of the primary goals, to try and win the thing. You can't necessarily win it this week but you can certainly lose it, so it's a huge game.
Q. Why is there so much animosity between Navy and Air Force? That same animosity doesn't seem to be there between Navy and Army?
A. I don't know.
Q. There was a lot of chatter last year.
A. I haven't heard any chatter this year.
Q. How about last year?
A. Last year was last year.
Q. What do you think about the game coming back to Annapolis for the first time since 1997?
A. It should be great. It should be a great crowd. The game is sold out and hopefully it will be a home field advantage for us. We need all the help we can get.
Q. Were you in favor of moving the game back to Annapolis?
A. No question. I think it's great. You should have the home field advantage when you play those games, especially because we have to go and play in their stadium. Hopefully we can have our fans into it and it will be loud.
Q. Apparently earlier this year Air Force players said something to the effect that it was "our trophy and we have to get it back to where it belongs." Is it annoying to hear them act like the trophy is theirs and you're just borrowing it?
A. I don't worry about that. That's why you play the game. There are three teams. Do you think it annoys Army? I don't know. I don't worry about that stuff.
Q. How does Air Force look to you?
A. They are good. They are much better than they were a year ago. I don't think there's any question about it. They've hurt themselves with turnovers, but they have a good football team.
Q. I know Washington isn't the best team in the Pac-10 but they've been pretty good over the years so beating Washington was a good victory for them.
A. Any time you beat a team from a BCS conference it's a good win.
Q. Are they throwing the ball more because of their receivers?
A. I don't know. Probably because Carney is a good thrower and Fitch throws the ball pretty good too. They have two big receivers that have caught a lot of passes. I guess it's just something they need to do to utilize their personnel.
Q. Coach, this is one of the biggest rivalries in the country. How much more do you get fired up for a game like this?
A. It should be a lot of fun. It will be fun for the players and everyone involved. Hopefully it will be a home field advantage for us and the crowd will get involved. The Brigade has been really good when we've played at home. Hopefully we can make this a tough place to play for them.
Q. It seems like the two teams are pretty similar.
A. There are some similarities. They are probably a little older than us this year. Last year it was probably the other way around. If both teams play well it should be a heck of a game.
Q. How about confidence wise since you have won the last couple of games. Does that make any difference at all?
A. I don't think so. Different teams, different years. I never went into the game thinking we weren't going to win.
Q. How big is it going into this game with a win instead of 0-3?
A. It was important. We got the monkey off our back. We have to play much better if we are going to have a chance to beat Air Force. Air Force is a much better football team than Duke. There's no question about that.
